Babylon 6
by babylon218
Summary: The year is 2290, the name of the place: Babylon 6. It's been nine years since the decommissioning of Earth Alliance Space Station Babylon 5, and with the threat of potential war looming, the Inter-Stellar Alliance has funded the construction of this new 'Last, Best hope for Peace'. But, Captain Thompson has a much deeper threat to worry about, from five years into his past.
1. Chapter 1

**Babylon 6**

"_I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us, and part of us remains. Go anywhere in the Station, when it is quiet, and just listen. After a while, you will hear the echoes of all our conversations – every thought and word we've exchanged. Long after we are gone, our voices will linger in these walls." – Citizen G'Kar, Babylon 5, 2262._

_..._

**Chapter 1: Hope reborn.**

**December 28th 2285**

In the Mars-Jupiter Asteroid Belt, it is uncommon for vessels to be seen travelling at high speeds, but, this is an unusual situation. Flight Lieutenant Mac Thompson and the other eleven members of E.A.S. Maryland's Alpha Squadron were deployed over half an hour ago from their mother ship, currently stationed at IO, to respond to a distress call from the Earth Force transport "Hercules", which had been damaged and was lost in the Asteroid Belt.

Now, Alpha Squadron is flying at high speeds through the hazardous region of space they find themselves occupying, either dodging the giant asteroids or destroying them altogether with their plasma cannons. Alpha Lead has a head-way on the rest of the Squadron by about half a kilometre, trying to keep a lock on his fellow pilots while still paying attention to any threats to them that may linger ahead of him.

"Alright, guys. We're almost through the worst of it. Let's form back up," the lieutenant calls over the comm. line, noting no answer after several seconds. "Guys?"

He glances at the holographic HUD on the screen of his cockpit canopy, which showed, among many other things, that his comm. link to the rest of Alpha Squadron was still open. He turned his head around to try and see behind him. The site he gazed upon would terrify him to no end.

The lieutenant's eyes open into near circles as his jaw hangs at the site behind him. A bright pink energy beam slices through his squadron, people he'd called 'friends' for the better part of three years now. While some of the Lightning-Class Starfury Interceptors manage to dodge the initial attack, it proves futile as their unknown attacker finishes four of them off with frightening ease, while the rest just crash into other nearby asteroids.

"No..."

The attacking vessel comes into Mac's view; a ship with a hull so black he had to focus to keep his eyes from slipping from it. It had menacing-looking spikes protruding from a central body, forming a series of X-shapes running down this monster. Its bow was in a shape that Mac would almost call a 'mouth'. It glided past him, passing over his canopy, with an unnatural grace. As it passed, Mac's mind splintered as he heard an earth-shattering scream echo throughout it's already distressed interior – a sound that could only be described as 'the sound of hell calling out'. After a few moments, the ship shimmered from view.

Mac's mind had been so centred on this monstrous ship, and the fighters it had destroyed, that he was oblivious to the repeating Collision Alarm resounding through his helmet and the Cockpit. When he finally directs his attention back to his instruments, he executes a hard right turn, rotating his fighter 90-degrees both downward and to the left, before hitting his main thrusters to try and dodge the massive asteroid that had crept into his path. This proved futile, as the port-dorsal thrusters collided with the crest of the rock, sending the fighter out of control.

...

**January 7th 2290, Epsilon Eridani Star System, Epsilon 3 Orbit.**

Captain Mac Thompson looks out the shuttle viewport, anxiously. Earth Force acknowledge the less 'Military' duty of the new Babylon Station, so they didn't have a problem with him wearing the Earth Force 'Explorer' issue black uniform. He's wearing the newly defined 'Senior Officer' red undershirt beneath it, with his right shoulder bearing a mission patch: the yellow number six with a gap between the 'tail' and the joining end of the 'loop', with the word 'Babylon' displayed above it. His shoulders bare the rank insignia of 'Captain', with the left breast of the uniform jacket wearing the metal Earth Alliance insignia. His hair is a dark brown, matching his eyes.

Outside the shuttle, Captain Thompson sees the newly completed 'Babylon 6' fall into view. The station is 6.4 miles long, not including the Zero-G docking and energy generation section, which extended it to 7.2 miles in length. The habitat section of the station rotated at 60 mph to generate the Earth-equivalent gravity that the inhabitants would require. It was mainly a light metallic silver/grey, with an almost chequered yellow pattern of markings.

'Gold Sector', the only part of the station that didn't rotate since it would be unmanned most of the time, consisted of two fork-like structures, leading into the Zero-G Docking Bays, forming into a long gantry-like structure wrapping around the habitat section at three points, with two large solar-collector arrays mounted either side, perpendicular to the Zero-G Bays.

"Wow," was the only word that Mac could utter at the site of what has been called 'the Galaxy's final chance at peace'. Though the Interstellar Alliance had done a fantastic job, things have been tough lately with border disputes and economic troubles among many of the members. The idea is that by giving them a fully neutral ground, they'll be able to resolve their differences without violence, and it doesn't hurt to have another free-port to fuel Earth-Dome's pockets.

"Do you want to make another pass, Mac?" Mac turned to see the face of his First Officer; Commander Michael Drake, sitting next to him. The Commander's uniform was identical to Captain Thompson's; with the exception that Michael's had the commander-level rank insignia instead of the captain-level rank insignia. He sported a lighter shade of brown hair than Mac's, with light, ice-blue eyes.

"Nah!" was Mac's jovial reply, "let's take her in."

...

The pair of military officers stepped through into the Custom's Lobby, which was still being furnished. The walls were cool, matt silver with a blue light strip going along at middle height.

"I guess 'fully constructed' doesn't equate 'fully operational'," was Drake's reaction to the, frankly, chaotic state of the lobby, as they walk through toward the transport tube.

"It'll only take another day or two... hopefully..." Mac chimes in, with a cautious tone in his voice.

The two soon enter the square-floored transport tube, similar to the walls of the corridor outside but with light tubes in each corner running up the length of the walls. Mac soon requests that the tube take them to 'Blue 5, C&C', watching as the lights glow blue and the tube motors begin humming. After a few moments, the tube comes to a halt and the doors slide open into a corridor running perpendicularly with the tube, with the doorway to 'Command and Control' lying directly ahead. Mac and Michael cross the corridor, stopping while Mac inserts his 'Identi-card' into the door lock, before a cheerful tone is chirped out and a green light turns on above the card slot. The door to C&C slides open, incredibly quietly, and the pair cross the threshold, glancing back briefly as the door closes again behind them.

The Command Deck was spacious, with a circular sub-level below the main command area, accessed by a small set of steps either side of a railed bridge allowing quick access from the corridor outside to the primary command console at the base of the panoramic observation window.

The Operations sub-level was occupied mainly by computer consoles, controlling Life-Support, Rotation, Environment, Communication (with separate consoles for Internal, Inter-Ship, and Inter-Stellar communications), scanners, and almost a dozen observer and operator consoles for the Defence Grid.

This was one of two of B6's 'Observation Domes'. The second was on the opposite side of the station, 'below' the docking bays (if we assume that the first was 'above' the bays), and was only used in emergencies. It served as a back-up in case C&C was disabled in an attack.

Across the Command Deck, staring out into the stars – which is pretty hard if you consider that the stars are moving past at roughly 60 miles per hour – is the station's 'Fleet Logistics Officer'; Commander Zoe Forest. She's wearing the standard Earth Force blue-and-brown leather uniform, with the appropriate rank insignia and mission patch. Her dark blonde hair is coming to just above her shoulders.

Mac just waits there looking at her, remembering back to five years ago, when an Ensign Zoe Forest was the first face he saw after the Military Transport she was serving on rescued him after his fighter had been damaged and he blacked out. He comes back to the present for a moment and walks to right beside her, catching her attention as he leans on the command console to meet her gaze.

"You cut your hair," was the first word out of Mac's mouth, half flirting, though he hadn't meant to.

"Glad you noticed," Commander Forest replied, smiling at him.

"How long's it been? A year?"

"Try six months!" Zoe just lets out as she laughs at the question.

"Only six months?" he asks, as Zoe just gives a short, playful, nod, "Wow. Where doesn't the time go?"

"Don't know, but I can tell you where it does go," she says, nodding her head to the observation port to her right, "out there."

"Yeah, guess so. What's our situation, Commander?"

"We're almost fully operational. Once Maintenance finishes putting the chairs down, we'll be ready to go."

"Great. Well, when President Delenn asked me to come and take Command of Babylon 6, she told me that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But, if every day on the job is as easy as this-"

He's interrupted when the station shudders. He looks out the observation window to see that a Narn Transport exploded on approach.

"You had to say it!" was the cynical response from Commander Drake, as they look out at the green and grey debris floating past.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*Part of an ongoing "series" hopefully.

*I have designed a rough idea for the look of the "Lightning" Starfury, but I won't post the link to it here. It is in my profile though.

*Now, before anyone goes "Sleeping in light", if it bothers you that much, this fic is set in an AU.

*The ship at the beginning *SPOILER*, as you may have guessed, is based on the same ship from Crusade, which destroyed the E.A.S. Cerberus. JMS always intended for that ship to lead back to Earth, so I consider this my way of trying to "finish what he started".

*Stay Tuned! There is more to come!


	2. Chapter 2

******Chapter 2: Trial of Fire****  
**

**December 28****th**** 2285, 4 hours after assault.**

Lieutenant Mac Thompson's Lightning continues to float in the Mars-Jupiter Asteroid Belt, running out of oxygen and with its pilot unconscious. As Mac sits in his seat, a proximity alarm blares as an Earth Force Transport moves alongside, searchlights beaming into the cockpit.

"This is E.A.S. Hercules to Starfury pilot, do you read?" the voice crackles over the comm. Mac's eyes open slightly, seeing the metallic hull of the large, 500m transport ship, as his fighter slowly floats toward the red-light flooded hangar bay. Or maybe that was the ship moving toward him.

This only lasted a few seconds, as his vision blurred again, before passing out from the lack of oxygen.

…

**January 8****th**** 2290, Earth Alliance Space Station Babylon 6. 4 hours after incident.**

Mac stands in Med-lab as several Narn are hastily rolled in on gurneys. Dr Martin Cortez is busy in surgical scrubs trying to save patients in the Iso-Lab. The Med-lab has a chequered wall, consisting of cool silver and ice blue tiles, with a large, reinforced, glass window looking into the Isolation Lab. There are two small pressure doors between the main ward and the Iso-lab airlock. The main ward has several medical beds, currently occupied by Narn patients who were on the Shuttlecraft that exploded. Many are hooked up to life support equipment and Intravenous feeds.

As Mac watches the horror in Med-lab 1, he knows that in Med-labs 2 and 3 the situation is no better, with Med-labs 4, 5 and 6 preparing to receive the next group of casualties. Mac turns toward the glass doors toward the infirmary ward to see a Narn women rolled in, her skin almost frozen by the vacuum.

"My god," All that Mac could utter, "Oh, my god."

Suddenly, he's brought back to reality by the chirp of his comm.-link. He raises the thin, metallic, bracelet-like device on his right wrist to his mouth, tapping one of the two controls. "Thompson here. Go ahead."

"It's me, Captain," Commander Drake's voice comes out of the device's speaker with crystal-clarity. "We may need you up here."

"On my way." Captain Thompson taps the same control again, dropping his arm back to his side before walking out of the Med-lab.

**Command and Control**

In C&C, Drake looks out the Observation Window and out into the space outside, catching glimpses of Starfury Fighters and waiting freighters. A few moments later, Captain Thompson walks onto the Command Deck. Mike turns around on his right foot to look at his commanding officer, who displays an expression of fatigue.

"The Narn government's sending a ship to investigate the loss of their transport." Drake is the first to speak.

"They didn't waste a lot of time." Mac quickly replies, wearily. "Alright, give them priority clearance. How long until the last of the ambassadors arrive?"

Drake looks at Mac worryingly, before his mood changes to match his response, "The Minbari representative will arrive in 4 hours, the Narn Ambassador in 5, and the Ranger Liaison will arrive sometime tomorrow morning." He turns back to the Command Console. "All in all, I'd say we're gonna have trouble solving this before then."

"Let's hope we can at least find out what happened before the Narn representative arrives. You said you _needed_ me up here?"

"Yeah. Our Fleet logistics officer is asking to authorise an Earth Force ship to repair and resupply here. Also, our fighters need a visit by a maintenance team. Apparently some of the debris went around the station before getting pulled into one of the Cobra Bays."

"So," Mac began, now sounding strained, "we have one thing that didn't require me to come up to C&C, and another that didn't require my authorisation."

"The advisory council is asking for the debris to remain undisturbed until the Narn Investigative team arrives."

"Remind the Council that the Station has jurisdiction over all accident investigations here. The Narn team is being allowed here as a courtesy."

"What if they say no?"

"Then screw 'em!" Mac begins to head back out of the Observation Dome. "Get a Maint-bot out there and pull that debris out of the bay. I'll be in Logistics."

"You know, we just call it 'Commander Forest's Office'."

"And Commander Forest is in charge of Fleet Logistics in this sector."

"If you wanted to see her, you could have just said so."

Mac turns around for a second, giving his Executive Officer a deathly glare. "Mike…"

"Right. Sorry."

Mac rolls his eyes before turning around and walking out of C&C.

…

**January 6****th**** 2286, Earth Dome, Geneva. Earth Force Office of Internal Affairs.**

Lieutenant Mac Thompson sits on a metal chair at an equally metal table, with two men in black suits wearing an Earth Force pin on their left lapel sitting across from him. A man in an Earth Force Naval Uniform is walking around the room. His uniform has a gold command bar with a star in the centre and his shoulders display a general's rank insignia.

The room has grey walls, and no light accept for the small lamp attached to the table. There's a mirror on the wall to the right of Mac, but even Mac knows that it's a two-way mirror, and that a psychological team is staring right at him.

The General sits down on a chair between the two other men, before pressing a button on his side of the table.

"Interview resumed on January 6 2286, at 1834 Earth Standard Time." The general speaks in a deep voice, revealing a heavy Suffolk Accent. "Lieutenant Thompson, you have told us that your fighter lost control and that you blacked out. Yet, here you sit, alive and well, while your entire squadron is presumed KIA. Would you care to explain that to us?"

"I already told you," Mac's voice was strained – tired and irritated, and the fact that this 'inquiry' felt more like an interrogation didn't help, "my fighter was found adrift by the Hercules about 4 hours after I blacked out. It was in the log."

"The Hercules? That would be the same vessel that your squadron was dispatched to recover, correct?"

"Yes."

"And yet they found no sign of the rest of your squadron."

"Because there wasn't anything _to_ find!" Mac was losing his temper – He didn't like being accused of killing his squadron, or abandoning them, or being crazy and imagining the whole thing. General Allington may not have said it yet, but it was obvious that that was what he was thinking.

"Easy, son. We just want to find the truth." The General's tone was softer, now more sympathetic. "Now, describe the attack for us again."

Mac let out a strained sigh, before pinching his nose and interlinking his hands on the table, moving them each time he finished a word, for emphasis. "I was 120 meters away from the squadron. It was a routine reconnaissance tactic. I ordered the squadron to form back on my wing once we cleared the densest region of the belt. I got no response, so I tried to make contact with the squadron again. When they didn't respond I checked my Comm. System. It was still active and linked to the Alpha Squadron Comm. Frequency. I looked out the side of my canopy, trying to get a good look behind me, and…" his voice trails off, before he wipes his right hand along his face and recomposes himself. "I saw… something."

"Something? Could you describe it in a bit more detail?"

"It was black. So black that I could barely keep eye contact with it. It had… these spikes. It looked like something right out of those old Fantasy vids. You know… King of the Rings?"

"Lord of the Rings." One of the men seated next to the General corrected Mac.

"Right. And… when it flew past… I heard something. Like a scream in my mind – so frightening that you just can't move or breath – the sound of Hell flying past."

The General looked at his entourage before moving his hand over one of the table controls.

"Interview suspended at 1837, Earth Standard."

…

It had been two hours. He'd counted. They'd left him stewing in the interview room for two hours. He was sure that there was a regulation against it, but they'd made sure he had coffee so he wasn't about to complain.

Coffee: Mac knew it was a bad habit but he hadn't slept in 3 days. The coffee kept him awake – kept him from reliving the last terrifying moments of his squadron's destruction.

Suddenly, General Allington walked back into the room. He held the door open as Mac got to his feet.

"You're free to leave." The General's words echoed through Mac's ears. "But, first, I have to inform you that this incident is level-one classified. You are forbidden to discuss the events with anyone not directly involved. If you do, you will do time for treason. Understood Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir." Mac was exhausted, and wasn't in the condition to refuse an order at this point. "What happened?"

"Classified. Dismissed, lieutenant."

…

**January 8****th**** 2290, Babylon 6.**

Commander Zoe Forest is sitting at a desk in her office. There's a computer terminal on the right half of the desk, with three data crystal ports on the right edge of the desk. On the left side of the desk is a small pile of papers, all probably EA starship status reports for Epsilon Grid. The small holographic display next to them shows a Hyperion-class Cruiser, with certain sections showing in red as opposed to the dominant blue of the hologram.

The E.A.S. Pegasus had been engaging Raiders all across Euphrates Sector with the Minbari and Centauri Fleets, plus White Star Group 14. While most of the vessels involved in the campaign are still undamaged, the Pegasus was hit by a heavy EMP and took several hits to her Hangar Bay and Weapons Grid. They'd also lost Jump Engines, making Babylon 6 the closest reachable base for repairs.

As Zoe tries to file her heap of reports, the door chime to her office sounds. She releases a strained sigh and warily says, "Open."

The door to her quarters slide open as Mac waits on the threshold. "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Mac walks in calmly, looking at the office before gesturing towards the seat on his side of the desk. "May I?"

Zoe simply nodded as Mac sat down in the seat. There's a moment's silence between them before Mac breaks the silence and says, "I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Correction: you heard that I need your authorisation to bring a ship in for repairs – which you could have linked to me," was Zoe's comical response.

"Maybe I wanted to give it to you in person?"

"In which case you'd have brought the code on a data crystal with you." Zoe's tone was growing more and more jovial. "Try again."

"Alright, fine." Mac sighs out of defeat before continuing. "First, what did you need the code for?"

Zoe smiles before gesturing to the hologram. "The E.A.S. Pegasus was damaged in combat with Raiders in the Euphrates Sector. We're the closest repair base. They've lost jump drive and the ship's sensors can only maintain the Hyperspace lock-on for a few hours, so we're also the only base in range."

"Why not head to Orion Station? They're better equipped and only a couple of hours away in Quantumspace."

"The ship's structural integrity won't take the gravitational anomalies of Quantumspace. They're pushing it with hyperspace as it is."

"How did the Raiders manage to cause that much damage to a Hyperion Cruiser? The Pegasus is the test-bed for several new pieces of equipment, right?"

"Particle Beams, Heavy Plasma Cannons, Mk XI Fusion missiles… it's a mini Warlock!"

"That's what I mean. How'd she take that much damage?"

"Well, like they say; 'the more you overwork the plumbing, the easier it is to clog up the drain'. They got hit with an EMP powerful enough to knock out the defence grid and strand the fighters. The Raiders got an opportunity to disable Earth Force patrols and they took it."

"Alright, clear the Pegasus to dock here for repairs and resupply. And ask if we can get the Sinclair rerouted to Epsilon Grid – we'll need the help if this gets out of hand."

"Right. Hold on, the Sinclair's a Warlock Destroyer."

"She's also on testing manoeuvres and has only half her fighter complement. Earth won't be able to refit her for a while so we may as well put her to good use while we wait."

…

**Command and Control**

As Michael Drake looks out the Observation Port, Security Chief Anthony (or 'Tony') Lancaster walks onto the Command Deck. Having heard the Chief of Security enter the Observation Dome, Mike turns around and greets the Chief Warrant Officer. "Welcome to the Command Deck, Mr Lancaster."

The 37 year-old English-born man nods in response. He's wearing a Grey Uniform, with a slightly darker Grey undershirt beneath it. The right shoulder displays the B6 Mission Patch while the left shows the Earth Force Security emblem, which consists of the standard EA insignia with a set of crosshairs in the middle and in front of it. His short buzz cut black hair and brown eyes break up a tanned skin, which is unusual when you consider that he comes from one of the wettest parts of Earth.

"Commander, we have a problem." The Englishman's voice was slightly deep with a very light English accent. He was commanding a worrying tone, as he handed a Data Pad to Mike.

After looking over the pad for a few moments, Mike's face drops into a serious demeanour. He then starts reading the report, unwittingly, out loud. "Traces of Cobalt and Hydrogen not registered on Cargo manifest. Probability of explosive device: 90.6%."

"We also found a casing made from reinforced steel. Whoever put that Cobalt on the ship definitely wasn't trying to prevent an explosion."

"Launch Alpha Wing. Have them Blockade the Jump Gate, nothing comes in or out. Track down any ships that left the Station in the last 6 hours and notify the Narn ship's previous stop. That ship exploded on approach for a reason. Commander Drake to Captain Thompson, please respond."

…

"Well," Mac was using a cynical tone – a rarity for him, "this is just great."

"We've searched all of Blue Sector," Lancaster was now commanding a professional, neutral tone, "so far, we've found nothing, well, except for a fairly drunk Pak'ma'ra telling 'properly cooked' jokes in Blue 13."

"I doubt they're still on the Station. Alright, we can't suspend Station Traffic forever, especially with the Pegasus on the way. Open up the docking bays and notify Earth Force."

Mike walks over from the Command Console to chime in. "Word just came in from Narn. They found whoever detonated the bomb. They were Raiders."

"Of course," Zoe was leaning on the railing. "With Babylon 6 here, there's an even greater risk for the Raiders operating in Euphrates."

"Well," Mac finally chimed back in, "what are we going to do about it?"

On the Command Console, a medium-pitch tone sounds. Mike turns his head away from the group and back at the console. "Whatever we do, we'd better do it quick."

"Distress call?"

"I'll patch it through."

Mike presses a control on the console and an image appears on the Stellar Comm. Screen. The transmission is suffering from serious interference, but the audio's coming through, weakly.

"Earth… Fury Pilot call… any ship in… Epsilon, repeat, Star… Pilot calling all ships in Grid Epsilon!" The male voice that was coming over the comm. was in a panic.

Mac turns to the screen. "Babylon 6 to Pilot, what is your situation?"

"Escorting transport, hit by Raiders. They're all over the place!"

Mike turns to Mac, "Locking onto his coordinates now."

"Copy that, Starfury. We are sending help, just keep transmitting!" Mac's voice is calm, though adamant. He turns to Commander Drake. "Get Beta Squadron out there now!"

"I'll go with them." Mike turns and leaves the Command Deck and Zoe takes his place at the Command Console.

"Keep talking to us, pilot. We're using your comm. signal as a fix."

"Copy that, Babylon Control! Coordinates are 2-9-8-4 by 8-2-1-3!" The pilot's voice was calmer now, but the transmission was breaking up again.

Zoe turned to Mac after checking the coordinates against the star charts. "He's between Epsilon G-A4 and G-A3. If he can make it to a Jumpgate, I can have the Pegasus meet up with him on the way in."

"Negative." Mac turned to Zoe's now concerned face. "He'd have to wait 2 hours after getting there. Besides, you said yourself that the Pegasus is damaged."

"Don't… about it Babylon Control. I couldn't… Quantumspace anyway!" The pilot's voice was now panicked again and becoming harder to hear over the static. "Course is 010 Mark 3 relative to Beacon G-A3! Speed is-!" The pilot's transmission cut off.

"We lost the signal." Zoe looked at Mac, morbidly.

"Sir?" One of the technicians in the sub-level called up to Captain Thompson. As he turned to acknowledge, "Beta Squadron reports ready for launch."

Mac turns back to the Command Console and presses down on a control, precipitating a light beep. "C&C to Beta Squadron, you are cleared for drop."

**Cobra Bay Beta**

"Copy that, Babylon Control." Mike's voice resounds over the comm. as he sits in the cockpit of a Thunderbolt-Class Star Fury, Call sign 'Beta Leader'. The upper-starboard wing displays the B6 emblem while the upper-port wing displays the EA emblem. The leading edges of the wings are decorated by gold markings, as is the side of the fighter running from the nose, along the bottom of the cockpit canopy, and to the wings. The engines on the tips of each wing are glowing orange after spooling up. Mike is wearing a standard flight helmet with the image of a hawk printed on the right side.

Suddenly, the Cobra Bay doors slide open beneath each fighter, allowing the red flood lighting to spill into open space as the Station's main body rotates. Then, each fighter rotates down 90 degrees as the Launch Jack moves them into position. The bay is suddenly dominated by darkness as it moves below the Zero-G module.

"Alright Beta Squadron, prepare for drop." Mike taps a few controls and the engines flash as he pushes the throttle forward to check the thrust capacitors, sliding them back to idle afterward. The Bay moves out from under the Zero-G module.

"Engine thrust: check. RCS systems: check. Aerofoils: check. Landing gear: check." The voice of Mike's co-pilot, Lieutenant John Mayfield, crackles over the comm.

"Mayfield," Mike begins to address his co-pilot in a slightly patronising, slightly impatient, mostly sarcastic tone, "keep the pre-flight to systems we're going to need, okay?"

"Right, sorry. Drop system: check. Weapons systems: all check and safeties active. We're ready for launch."

"Alright, all wings report in."

Another voice crackles over the comm., "Beta 2, standing by."

Then a female voice, "Beta 3, standing by."

Followed by another voice, "Beta 4, standing by."

And another, "Beta 5, ready for drop."

And another, "Beta 6, ready."

Shortly after the last fighter calls in, Mike gives an order to the full squadron, "Drop!"

All six ships drop from the Cobra Bay, the Station's centrifugal force pushing them into the blackness of space. The bay doors close and the Cobra Bay re-pressurises, the red floods changing to green.

The squadron constantly utilises the RCS thrusters until they're in line with the jumpgate, followed by all ships initiating a 10-second main thruster burn before allowing their inertia to carry them to the gate.

As they approach the gate, the five generators on each strut flash in sequence before the red-pink vortex to Quantumspace bursts open. As the fighters reach the edge of the vortex, Mike can see energy discharges running out of Quantumspace.

Each fighter initiates a short thruster burn, propelling them through the vortex and into Quantumspace, precipitating a quick flash with each one.

**Command and Control**

Mac and Zoe look out the viewport as the Jump Point collapses, precipitated by a few last flashes. Zoe turns to Mac saying, "They're away."

Quickly after, the Jumpgate opens again, and a similar vortex as before opens, though this time blue, not red. A Minbari Flyer glides out of the Quantumspace Vortex and towards the Station. A male voice echoes over the comm. In a gentle tone, "This is Ambassador Tarrier of the Minbari Federation to Babylon Control. I am requesting permission to dock. Accompanying me is Commander Sanders of the Anla'shok."

"Great," Mac says sarcastically. "We're in the middle of a crisis and now I have to play diplomat. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Explorer ships." He presses down on the comm. control, "Babylon Control to Minbari Flyer, you are cleared to dock in Bay 4 via Beacon Alpha 1. Welcome to Babylon 6."

**5 minutes later, Jumpgate Epsilon G-A4**

The Jumpgate opens a vortex out of Quantum Space as Beta Squadron comes through. The gate closes behind them, followed by a few flashes and a sound analogous to thunder. The squadron powers up their engines for another 10-second burn to propel them forwards and clear of the gate.

"Maintain loose formation," Mike's voice was calm as he pressed on a few controls in his cockpit, "All ships, begin long-range scanning. Let's find that Starfury. Heat 'em up."

As Mayfield begins scanning for the fighter, Mike activates the Pulsed Plasma cannons and sets the safety from setting 2 to setting 1, setting 2 meaning the pulse cannons can't be fired, and setting 1 meaning it can only be fired at a confirmed hostile. Setting 0 – which is simply turning off the safeties – allows the pulse cannons to be fired at anything.

The squadron continues moving forward for five minutes before a rapid tone chimes out of Mayfield's console.

"What we got Mayfield?"

"Looks like an Aurora-Class Starfury – standard escort configuration."

"That's our ship." Mike opens a channel to the rest of the squadron, "Okay guys, we have our fighter. Form up, we're gonna take a closer look."

The squadron moves closer to the Aurora. It's been almost completely destroyed. The cockpit module is drifting just 500 meters from the fuselage, and both pieces are moving across space at about 50km/s. Mike sighs and mutters a curse to himself, "Dammit."

He opens the channel, "Alright people, shows over. Beta 2, collect the fighter. Beta 4, collect the cockpit. Let's head back to base."

**Babylon 6, Captain's Office.**

Mac is sitting at his desk, similar in shape and layout to Commander Forest's desk, going through a maintenance report, when Zoe walks in.

"Am I interrupting?" Zoe's voice was soft, sympathetic.

"No, of course not." Mac gestured to a chair as Zoe sat down, before asking, "Is this a professional visit?"

"Partly. I'll get the personal part out of the way first."

Mac presses a control on his desk, turning of the recorders in the room, before Zoe continues.

"Mac, I know EarthDome didn't assign me here because of my good work. Why'd you request me?"

"For your good work."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But, that's not the only thing about you that's good."

"Oh?" Zoe's tone had elevated to a jovial one.

"I'm gonna spend the rest of the week climbing out of this hole I've dug myself, aren't I?"

"No. It'll take you at least a year."

The two smile, before Zoe breaks the silence, taking on a more concerned tone of voice, "Seriously Mac, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"It's just that... look we've known each other for 5 years, right?"

"Yeah, 5 years 11 days."

"There! That's exactly what I mean. You remember the day we met exactly!"

"What are you getting at?"

"You know what. Us meeting was not the only thing of note to you that happened that day."

"Okay," Matt's voice was strained, irritated, "fine. You want me to say it, fine, I'll say it! I still remember what happened to my squadron! I still close my eyes and see their ships hitting asteroids! I still have nightmares at night, wondering if there's anything I could have done, hearing them call out to me for help, blaming me! Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?!"

"Mac...," Zoe's voice trailed off, before she looked at Mac and saw that his eyes had gone red, "It wasn't your fault. Their manoeuvring systems failed and they were hit by asteroids. You couldn't have done anything."

Mac looked at her, knowing that she'd just repeated the lie EarthForce had told everyone about what happened – repeating the lie he'd told her under orders. He just wanted to get up and throw the Earth Alliance Seal on his wall onto the floor. He wasn't unpatriotic. He believed in the Alliance. He just hated having to live a lie and not being able to tell anyone about it. He considered activating a jammer and telling her everything right there – telling her about the ship that had tore his squadron to pieces – telling her about how EarthDome had ordered that he keep quiet, but he couldn't. It would mean the end of her career if anyone found out he'd told her, or worse.

Mac sighed, recomposed himself, and put on his best smile before finally asking, "What was the 'official' matter you wanted to discuss?" He turned on the recorders.

Zoe stared at him for a few seconds, inquisitively. She knew Mac was trying to change the subject, badly. She finally responded to his question, putting on a half-jovial, half-serious tone, "I need you to do something."

"Name it."

"Get out of that desk and get some sleep."

Mac looked at her, dumbfounded, before asking her, irritated tone abound, "May I ask why?"

"Yes."

Mac waited for her to continue, before realising she was attempting to be funny. "Why?"

"You haven't slept in 2 days, and, quite frankly, it's showing."

"I am not fatigued, exhausted, or irritable!" Mac was really aggravated now, eliciting the response of a raised eyebrow from Zoe. Mac sighed, realising he'd just proved her point, before standing up. "Just don't ruin the paint."

"I won't." Zoe was being jovial again. After Mac walked out, she sat in his chair and mumbled to herself, jokingly, "'Captain Forest'. I like the sound of that!"

Mac wasn't quite out of earshot yet, and poked his head back through the doorway, looking at her with an expression that just said 'what was that? I didn't quite hear you.'

"Nothing." Zoe's voice had gone small, showing how much she dreaded the following onslaught of 'subtle' payback that would surely follow over the next couple of days.

Mac left again, and Zoe watched the doorway apprehensively until she was sure Mac was out of auditory range.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

*Sorry this took so long to put out. I suffered writer's block and as you can see, the Chapter's already pretty long, so I decided to cut it off there.**  
**

*Chapter 3 may take a while to come up, since I'm currently dealing with exams, but it will happen.


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